Excelsior College/NYSUT Team Up to Help Teachers Earn Master's Degrees Online to Meet Regents' Requirement

Excelsior College/NYSUT Team Up to Help Teachers Earn Master's Degrees Online to Meet Regents' Requirement

ALBANY, N.Y., Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Excelsior College and the New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) have teamed up to help new teachers meet a state Board of Regents requirement that they obtain a master's degree within three years.

Since the Regents' requirement went into effect in February 2004, entry-level teachers have expressed concerns that it would be difficult for them to obtain the degree so quickly while continuing to work full time, and that it would be a hardship for them to incur the expense of a master's degree during their early years in the profession.

The Excelsior/NYSUT agreement addresses both of these concerns. Excelsior College, the nation's oldest distance-learning college, will accept up to 15 transfer credits from courses offered by NYSUT toward the college's 33-credit-hour Master of Arts in Liberal Studies degree. The rest of the courses would be taken online from Excelsior at the convenience of each teacher. College officials estimate that teachers coming into the program with 15 credits could complete the master's program in as few as 18 months while working full time.

Distance learning programs are generally less costly than campus-based ones and since the college will accept, in transfer, credit earned by completing the NYSUT graduate-level courses, Excelsior's program will meet the flexibility and cost-efficiency needs of teachers.

"The flexibility that Excelsior College offers its students is ideal for our members who are often working full time while trying to raise a family and to complete the degree requirements they need to achieve permanent certification," said Rosemary V. Rosen of NYSUT.

Through professional development programs, NYSUT offers graduate-level courses taught by university and college professors in many towns and cities in New York state, but these have never been incorporated into a master's degree program.

Excelsior's Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program offers a wide range of foundational and focused courses, many of which are interdisciplinary in nature, that provide students with a broad background. Among the more than 50 courses available are Darwinism and its Influence, Revolutions in Knowledge, Art and Culture, and Science and the Literary Imagination. In addition, the program includes a six-hour master's thesis on a topic determined by the teacher in conjunction with his or her advisor.

Those enrolled in the Excelsior master's program either take online courses that follow a schedule, or they work one-on-one with a subject matter expert faculty member. The courses are highly interactive via online "discussion boards," chat, e-mail, and other techniques that provide a forum for student-to-student and student-to-faculty contact and discussion. Students enrolled in the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program live all over the world, including active-duty military deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan. This results in discussions that present varied points of view and cultural interpretations.

"We're pleased to partner with NYSUT in a way that provides the organization's members with the opportunity to advance their careers and their personal growth, while carrying out their responsibilities to educate our children," said Susan Nash, Ph.D., Excelsior's associate dean for liberal studies and director of the master's program.

The Excelsior Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program is the first exclusively distance learning-based program to be admitted to full membership in to the Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs (AGLSP). It is also part of eArmyU and is qualified for military tuition assistance.

Excelsior College has a strong tradition of working with organizations and corporations to enable students to meet their educational goals and advance their careers by incorporating college-level coursework offered by employers and professional organizations, according to Dr. Nash. Other Excelsior partners include criminal justice training programs at police and correctional academies across the nation, the U.S. military, Pearson VUE, the American Institute for Chartered Property Casualty Underwriters and the Insurance Institute of America (AICPCU/IIA) and LOMA (Life Officers Management Association).

NYSUT, the largest union in New York state, represents more than 500,000 classroom teachers and other school employees; academic and professional faculty at the state's community colleges, State University of New York and City University of New York; and other education and health professionals. NYSUT is affiliated with the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO.

Excelsior College (http://www.excelsior.edu/) is a recognized leader in the field of distance education. Founded in 1971, it is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools. Recognizing that college-level knowledge can be obtained in many ways, Excelsior provides access to many different avenues for earning college credit, focusing on what students know, rather than on where or how they learned it. Undergraduate credits are earned through a variety of accredited sources including for-credit exams, distance learning and online courses offered by Excelsior and other institutions; traditional campus-based courses; and military and corporate training. Excelsior's graduate degrees are delivered online. Through these means, the college makes associate, baccalaureate, and master's degrees more accessible to busy, working adults.

Excelsior College's associate, baccalaureate, and master's degree programs in nursing are accredited by the National League for Nursing Accrediting Commission (NLNAC). Excelsior's bachelor degrees in electronics engineering technology and nuclear engineering technology are accredited by the Technology Accreditation Commission (TAC) of the Accrediting Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET). The Excelsior Master of Arts in Liberal Studies program the first exclusively distance learning-based program to be admitted to full membership in to the Association of Graduate Liberal Studies Programs (AGLSP).


Source: Excelsior College

CONTACT: William M. Stewart of Excelsior College, +1-518-464-8775,
wstewart@excelsior.edu, or Dennis Tompkins of NYSUT, +1-518-213-6000,
ext. 6313, mediarel@nysutmail.org

Web site: http://www.excelsior.edu/


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